Paul Poley dot com

Charlottesville

May 14, 2008

I'm not so sure I like this new design, but I made it months back & never did anything with it. I suppose at least it's new.

Anyways, last weekend I went to Charlottesville to see my friends Kathryn & Shannon from Baylor.

Kathryn was graduating (again), but this time from UVA, and Shannon flew in from NYC. Philip lives in Charlottesville as well.

Virginia is absolutely beautiful, as is UVA.

It was supposed to rain heavily while we were there, and it did a little, but we were still outside plenty.

After seeing downtown Charlottesville and some of UVA's campus, we went to two wineries.

The first was Jefferson Vineyards, where we tasted indoors,

and the second was Kluge Estate. That was definitely my favorite of the two.

The wine was better, we had the cheeses to go with it, and the outdoor setting was gorgeous.

That picture looks much brighter than it was. We're sitting under and in between quite large trees.

It was wonderful catching up with friends and seeing the sights.
The next day we saw the Monticello (a.k.a. Thomas Jefferson's house). The whole town is captivated by him, and he founded UVA as well.

That was a great day to do this because it was pouring down rain while we were there, and all our other plans were for outside. They didn't let us take any pictures inside, so you'll have to just go to the website.

I never claimed to be a history buff, but I didn't realize how accomplished and driven Jefferson was. I always thought of Edison as an inventor, but not him. His house was full of devices.

After that we went to a party with some of Kathryn's friends and let the rain die off.

The next day we went to a farm market and picked strawberries, which were easily the best strawberries I've ever had.

It was a cool day, so we left the strawberries we bought in the car

and hiked up Humpback Rock a few miles away. It wasn't a terribly long hike, but it was pretty steep.

So my trip was incredibly excellent, but other than the fact that I threw in some pictures, this post has got to be incredibly boring to everyone that isn't either my mother or someone on the trip.

So if it was indeed that boring, consider this an entry for historical purposes.

Maybe some day I'll get around to letting people post on my web page so you don't have to just read me.

Halloween is upon us

Oct 28, 2007

The concensus was that I was a pimp, although I was really only going for "disco guy."

Waco Trip

Sep 30, 2007

Kourtney and Adam got hitched & moved to Waco, so we all made it a priority to go on down to visit them and leave what they call the concrete jungle that is Dallas.

Wasting no energy for the trip, we made our way slowly to the vehicle.

Picking up Chris Roberts, he reluctantly joined us in somber mood.

Knocking on the door is 2006, so Chris figured it was a good idea to experiment with less conventional greeting methods including making your face visible in the welcomer's window. We've yet to determine if Kourtney's scream was for joy or distress.

That night we went to Common Grounds which is a good memory for all and is the best coffee shop anywhere. We visited the Immortal Ten where the Fountain Mall used to be, and Chris Roberts felt right at home with Judge Baylor.

Next stop: Baylor's media studio where Kourtney & Nathan spent plenty of time in school.
Kourtney is back at Baylor going to grad school & teaching a few classes.

Off to George's for some Margarit-Os. Baylor was playing A&M, but all the rooms with Satellite TV were filled with Baylor fans, so we sat by the OU TV with the "Bears" banner in the background.

Where next? Well the local church's talent show of course!
Here's where I say you don't need the gift of discernment to recognize that some of these people weren't ready for Broadway.

I'm being as friendly with this as I can, because I'm already in trouble with Kourtney for my disparaging remarks in the middle of the show.
Oh no, don't get me wrong, I'm not belittling the kids. They were probably the best part of the show and some quite good.

It's those older people we fraudulently now label adults who's parents raised their kids in fear that their little tykes would feel the pain of rejection thus leading them to believe they CAN do anything they want to do.
Now's the time to hear it if you didn't already know this. That only applies until you're 8. Years of poor parenting could begin to be remedied if only I'd been brave enough to yell, "YOU SUCK!" in the middle of their performance on the church stage.

It turns out though that every performer showed more talent than I was able to with my attempt at converting the show flyer into origami. It was an interesting & fairly entertaining experience nonetheless.

Back to the Schopper's where we watched the Ohio St. game in honor of Adam. Kourtney & I made a quick run to the local shopping center.
You can get some eerily cheap meat there, but we opted out of that.

Sunday morning meant back to church & then to the Schopper's for the Cowboy's game.

After the game we made our way home, during which we further developed the game of "Thumbs Up."
Just give someone a thumbs up & get a point for similarly returned gesture.
It's a simple game. Easy to pick up, but impossible to master.

In fact, we decided that it isn't possible to master this game. At least not with the people driving from Waco to Dallas.
Lucky for me, the guy in the mullet that apparently thought I was making a pass at him was in a car traveling at highway speeds where it's rather difficult to land a punch.

Kelly's demeanor represents the ABSOLUTE end of this game in fear for our lives.